


Star Light, Star Bright

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Hairspray (2007)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-19
Updated: 2008-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 08:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1642214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tracy Turnblad likes to watch the stars sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Star Light, Star Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dreamiflame](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamiflame/gifts).



> Written for Dreamiflame

 

 

Tracy Turnblad likes to watch the stars sometimes. She sits outside on the balcony of the apartment, her feet dangling off the edge and her chin resting on the railing as she stares at the twinkles of light winking on and off in the distance. She wishes she could be a star, sometimes, because then someone would like to watch her and she'd be sparkly and shining and perfect.

And she finds it awfully unfair that the stars remain so far out of reach, yet so close. So close that she can block them out with her hand when she tries too. When she watches the stars, she counts one for everyone person she loves. (Mom, Dad, Penny, Seaweed...) and when she finally gets to the end, her voice catches in her throat because she can hardly believe that she's reciting this name, that it's actually a reality. (Link.) She'll whisper it, real quiet- like, so no one but her can hear and then her heart will leap in her throat and she'll giggle, clutching her arms around herself and joy coming out of her eyes in the form of light tears.

Because it's real. He's not just a fantasy anymore, he's whole and alive and perfect, right in front of the everyday when she enters the bus and he's in their special seat, his leg swung up on the bench next to him so that no one tries to take her spot. Fifth row, left side. 

But sometimes he's not there when she gets on and she panics because, honest to goodness, what if he's hurt? And the thought doesn't leave her all day until she can get home and call him up and make sure he's okay. If he wasn't, she's not quite sure what she would do with herself.

And then there's the matter of Amber. Seeing her in school every day is ten different kinds of awkward. What is she supposed to say to her? Amber's trying to be nice, in that tight, displeased way that she has, but Tracy's never really talked to any other girls besides her cousins and Penny and sometimes Inez and she's certainly never spoken to anyone as popular as Amber. What would they talk about? Truth is, they're opposites, through and through and Tracy can't imagine that they'll ever get along. 

They'll keep trying, of course. It'll be all pauses and stutters and glances away for invisible people but they need to try and be cordial, for the sake of the show. 

The show. The Corny Collins show was the only place Tracy had ever truly felt at home. She's gets to do what she loves in front of hundreds of people every week. Every step, every twirl, all of it makes her want to shriek with joy. Everything has turned out so perfectly, hasn't it?

But that's what makes her nervous. All good things come to an end right? Every dream must be woken up from. So she's careful, extra careful, in making sure that she watches her footing. As the saying goes, love is like dominos. One wrong move and everything falls.

She gets the feeling that it's not like that with Link, that he's here to stay. He's always been there, throughout her entire life. She's been going to school with him since kindergarten and ever since she was a little kid he's always been a constant figure in her life, even if he was only in the background.

He's hers now. Hers to kiss and hug and dance with on the show and nothing, nothing in the world could make her happier than that. It's nice to think that after working so hard for so long, everything's falling into place. Even Penny is happy now. Her mother was learning to let up and give her some air, even if she didn't exactly approve of Penny's choice in boyfriends. Tracy would never understand that. Seaweed was one of the nicest, most polite boys she knew and yet Mrs. Pingleton didn't like him, just because his skin was a different color. If Tracy had learned anything from this whole business, it was that some people can just be stupid. There's no explanation, no way to justify it, they just are.

That's the way Ms. Von Tussel had been. Tracy hadn't seen her around much; word was that she had moved to New York following her humiliation on the Corny Collins Show. A boy in a yellow car had been picking Amber up after school, Tracy noticed. While Amber had never mentioned anything about a brother, it was what Tracy assumed. And so things go. She wasn't sure what she was expecting after the picketing and having to escape via a car trunk, but it was a far cry from what actually happened. School is relatively normal, she still gets in trouble for the height of her hair, and she still is greeted quite civilly by everyone in the halls. Though there is a certain sense of reverie in her presence, maybe just because she stood up to "the system." Whatever it is, it's a bit different and Tracy likes it.

So, she concludes with a smile, drumming her fingers on her knees, that is her wish for tonight. That everything stays exactly as it is in this little moment. No more, no less. Because nothing, nothing could be as perfect as her life is now and she worries that asking for anything more might upset the natural balance or something along those lines.

In the dimming twilight, Tracy leans back against the wall of her house and sighs. She was a lucky girl. The traces of a smile play out on her face as she gently drifts off to sleep, the words of an age old nursery rhyme from long ago echoing in her head.

(Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may I wish I might, get the wish I wish tonight.) 

 


End file.
